I had a lovely day today, thanks to a wee clearing of the air I had with Mr. L last night. I spent most of today at the community pool with Miss M (where there is free wi fi!). She swam with friends and painted my toenails an eye-searing metallic royal blue during the rest period. I stayed in the shade and wrote up some experimental protocols, looked at the data from Friday's gels and peeked in at LJ from time to time. I got to chat with lash_larue , cranky__crocus , leela_cat and mirellarussian whist making the tamales we had for dinner (which were really good, btw ::g::). In other words, a much more relaxing day than the last several. :-)

And now I can contemplate doing some fandom things I've been meaning to get to for awhile, but just didn't have time to do in the last two weeks. There haven't been many Severus fics lately other than drabbles. I'm guessing that there will be an upsurge in the weeks following the release of DH2 (more on that in a minute), but for right now there is a drought. Never fear - there have been some really good things in ACD Canon Sherlock Holmes, SherlockBBC and other HP fandoms that I have found to keep me busy, and I'm thinking that you might be interested in them, too.

First on the list is a wonderful character study of Rabastan LeStrange by methleigh called Second Son. It's a beautifully and lyrically written piece on a little known and little thought about character in the HP fandom and a mediation on what it might mean to the be younger son of purebloods. Here's the beginning of it:

Rabastan was the younger brother. It was not a simple statement. It was a defining fact colouring all his childhood and formation, a fact that had influenced so much there was no possibility of calculating it. But there was a second factor blessing him and keeping him, protecting him from bitter envy and hate-filled competition and despair. The second fact was that Rabastan was glad, relieved with a gratefulness to Fate that inclined him to bend his knee to her many times each day. As a result, he had a brother he otherwise would have lost.

Second is an absolutely *marvelous* piece of ACD Sherlock Holmes "missing" canon by tweedisgood called Miss Fatima's School of the Orient. The story is told both from Holmes' point of view and also from the point of view of the other character, the kind we rarely get in any Sherlock Holmes story: a strong, intelligent and perceptive woman. Yes, it's het, but don't let that put you off. It will make perfect, heartbreaking sense when you read it. Here's an excerpt:

I am not sure what to expect; I nearly miss the place. To outward appearances, this is an ordinary London street of large, brick-built houses, arranged not as a terrace but standing a little apart from each other, most bearing the winking brass plates of professional men. As the engraved words on one such plate sort themselves out in my brain I understand that the “School of the Orient” does not offer lectures on the origins of primitive Sanskrit or the proper way to interpret the Glorious Qu’ran. Two weeks ago, I contrived to overhear two regulars at the Turkish baths talking of a house of resort, clean and in some sense more refined than its fellows. They did not name it outright but described its flavour, and the means of getting there, in terms that match location and identity readily enough. Three weeks to consider; two weeks to decide; less than an hour to make the journey.

At this school I will be a pupil. In an hour or so, I will know what Watson knows.

And lastly, a bit of fun. I've been reading a lot of fic based on SherlockBBC lately. It's kind of taken over the Sherlock Holmes fandom these days, due mostly to the fact that it's shiny/new. Well, that, and the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock, is such a dish. XD. Annnyywaaayyyy . . . I ran across a bit of cracky fun with the first episode that was so funny I couldn't resist drawing your attention to it - even if the show isn't your cup of tea, you might enjoy it. It's along the lines of Shakespeare in 60 Minutes, in script form, called Study in PINK! in Thirty Minutes by milwaukeemeg . Here's is teensy bit:

SHERLOCK: AAAAAAH! Okay, will you stop this not-staring already if I tell you some of my completely crazy guesses about you?

JOHN: Guesses?

SHERLOCK: …Heh, I mean my very, very scientific and logical deductions, of course.

JOHN: Wouldn't that be 'inductions'?

SHERLOCK: Your brother is a drunk, and your mother smelled of eldberries! One more word, and I'm leaving you here!

JOHN:… Harry's my sister, actually.

Go forth, read and leave the authors some feedback. ♥

And since I obviously don't have enough to do (What?!? There's no dance for the next two weeks, so there's this big hole in my schedule!), and because I am still not certain I can take going to see DH2 at the cinema, I've decided to re-read the book. I haven't touched it since I finished it - the only one of the whole series for which that is true - because I was so bloody furious when it was done. So, it's time to re-visit it and take a look at it with fresh eyes. Is there anyone who might be interested in joining me? Every few days I'll post about a couple of chapters, and it would be fun to have your perspective, too. When that is done, I have another project you can help me with, one that involves helping me exercise my (barely there) short-fic writing skillz. Watch these pages for further developments!

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Comments

You're sweet, thank you! bearing in mind your comments about my OFC, I've a mind to post on my progress report a particular excerpt from the sequel currently in progress which I think may amuse and please you ;-).

She swam with friends and painted my toenails an eye-searing metallic royal blue during the rest period.You are very much not alone in the toe department, now. I have pretty blue toes myself. (Not the dark sort of blue that people wouldn't really notice, either; it's pretty eye-catching.) Glad the tamales were good and so pleased we all got to chat! :D

You know, I've really wanted to pick the book up again as well. Between my sister coming, graduation, cleaning the house and packing, I'm not sure how much time I'll have to read it, but I'd like to try! And I think I'll just be bad and find a (possibly less than legal) version online without too much guilt, since I believe I've purchased two copies before - plus endless other HP stuff. Even if I don't get to reading it, I'll love hearing what you have to say!

I have no short-fic writing skillz, but if there's a way I can help to exercise yours, I will certainly try to lend any services I possess. (: